Singles - Hip Hop & Trap - Issue 583

700 Bliss

Spa 700

Don Giovanni Records

700 Bliss is the Philly-based duo of DJ Haram and Moor Mother, both of whom should be familiar to anyone interested in hip-hop's future, and this debut EP has been years in the building. Where Haram's beats are more club friendly and Trappist than MM has been heard on before, the mix of Haram's Arabic-inflected beats and Moor's stunning Afro-futurist-feminist rhymes provides perhaps one of the most necessary and needed records of the year thus far. 'Ring The Alarm' is the kicking pivot here, a banger that makes lines like "That anti-black’s programmed in your head/Now you wanna steal my culture/Already killed my father/Now you wanna stop my bread" hit even harder. Magnificent.

Homeboy Sandman & Edan

'#NeverUseTheInternetAgain'

Stones Throw Records

"Order a pizza like a fuckin' person/Match dot com like a online pimp/step to a girl in real life y' fuckin' wimp!" Oh man, this is absolutely fucking hysterical and totally accurate, and it's so fantastic to hear Edan back and putting together typically dazzling confections of psyche, funk and sheer wigged-out oddity. The album this single is from, the soon-dropping 'Humble Pi', is a brain-jangling delight throughout, and this is perhaps the only track on there that could qualify as a single (seeing as it doesn't disappear down a myriad of different sonic rabbit-holes). Particularly liked the line, "Internet journalism, here’s what you’re gonna find/ Everyone who can’t get paid for it does it online/Most of the ones online that’s getting paid suck too... fuck you!" TESTIFY BROTHER.

MIKE

'Black Soap'

Lex

A self-avowed 'collection of songs for black and brown excellence', this is the first release-proper by 19-yr old Brooklynite Mike after some self-released 2017 projects like 'By The Water' and 'May God Bless Your Hustle' that alerted us to his startling, avant-garde voice. The sounds here, created in London and New York, are unerringly stunning, mixing lo-fi crepuscular loops and grainy dub with beats almost determined to deflect your expectations. Sometimes this music gets goddamned aquatic it's so diffuse and gaseous, but you're always firmly in Mike's stream-of-realisation, living his life, thinking his thoughts. This is what hip-hop can do. Seek this out.

Pusha T

'Daytona '

Def Jam

The pre-release tweets from Pusha said that Kanye was back on the boards and mixing up his 'old magic': after West's recent car crash interviews and Trump endorsement, it's great to report that he is indeed back and focused on what he's best at, crafting stunning music for great rappers (and hats off to him for recommending T use a shot of Whitney Houston's ravaged final bathroom as a cover shot: tasteless yet compelling, just like the record). 'Daytona' is a delight throughout, West hitting the kind of pleasure centres Alchemist and Black Milk are hitting, but also giving things a sheen of instantaneous addictiveness, like M&Ms in a crack cocained shell. Pusha seemingly CAN'T sound anything other than imperiously great these days. Absolutely essential.

Sonnyjim X Conway

'Death By Misadventure EP '

Daupe!

As you'd imagine from these two dissident talents, this is a compelling stroll from grimy streets to lurid clubs through velvet ropes to darkened dissolution: highlights such as 'Kevlar Tux' and 'Belugas' somehow manage to sound both brutally minimal but also populated with only those details (there's some fantastic nigh-on Turkish psyche vibes laced throughout this record) guaranteed to unhinge the listener, guaranteed to make Conway and Roc Marc's narratives sting with just that little bit of extra poison. Utterly superb.

Lee X Sniff X Nobodies Home

'Don't Talk To Me/Do Not Look At Me'

Blah Records

Two tracks, twinned, two sides of a similarly paranoid misanthropic coin, produced by the unknown-to-me Nobodies Home. 'Don't Talk To Me' is perhaps the most surprising production wise: the same kind of near beatlessness you'll hear from MIKE this month, weird hanging chords of Rhodes and creepy Hammond organ falling between the dark shadowy spaces of a minimalist Afro-beat. On the flip, 'Do Not Look At Me' allows some trap/drill details into the swell, but this is still uniquely placeless, spacey dub music for a new age of dread.

Westside Gunn

'Evidence Joint '

Griselda Records

Yet more of that Buffalo, NY belligerence we've all developed serious addictions to in recent years, here backed by a fantastic beat from Evidence, following up his triumphant 'Weather Or Not' LP. Griselda look like they're limbering up for a busy rest-of-2018, and it was a toss up between this and the new EP from Benny The Butcher for inclusion on the page this month but goddamnit, Evidence has absolutely knocked this shit out of the park. Heavy fucking manners all round.

Rozewood

'Ghxst​/​Man'

Bandcamp

Ordinarily I'd chuckle, "I'll have a pint of whatever HE's on", but honestly, Rozewood's recent output has been so insanely great I'll actually just have a shot-glass of it. Actually, scratch that, a small spillage. Actually, just put a single drop on a piece of blotting paper and I'll carefully inhale it from a distance of several miles. The instrumentals themselves work like the best supra-phased pimp-rolling music you've ever heard — once Roze has slathered on his dreamy, blissed-out, broke-down vocals you get close to perfection. Superb.

BLACK JOSH

'YungSwegLawd (Produced By Reklews) '

Blah Records

"I don't go to sleep, I just pass out... I don't dream anymore, it's just black-outs". After an absolute deluge of wonder from Blah already this year (stack them Bisk tapes up as quick as you can), here's a tasty shot from BJ's soon-dropping full-length of the same name, Reklews laying down a rock-solid thrum of funk over which spectral keys and lunging wubbly-wibbly bass help Josh's rhymes reach a lethal incisiveness and heart-rending reach. Simultaneously this track is both highly-energised and the kind of thing you want to bump out of your jeep window, and also horizontally miserable and the kind of thing you want to encase yourself in within your squalid room. As ever from Blah, unmissable.

Quickies

Milkavelli x Lee Scott x Sniff

'Bubblewrap'

Blah Records

Can't wait for the 'Supergang' set soon dropping from this trio of lunatics, so this leak wasn't just anticipated but NEEDED: like drinking a gallon of bongwater, eating a tray full of hash brownies and then stepping out into the sky with your head firmly on the concrete. Sumgii is one fuck of a producer. Go get.

P Brothers

'Mentaltainment EP'

Heavy Bronx Records

Key Rhist it's good to have P Brothers back. This new EP is flying off the shelves, so snap it up quick. Customarily rugged excellence throughout (the ESG and Mikey Dread samples are joys unto themselves), and cameos from Doo Wop, Daniel Son, Your Old Droog and Milano seal one hell of a deal. RUSH to get this 'cos it's genuinely disappearing fast.

Ramson Badbonez

'Bloodsplat'

High Focus Records

And the horrorcore keeps comin'! Great dank vibes here from RB's new 'Jason Bonez' set — every time you think you can nod your head to the rocksteady beat, a little ripple of spooked, haunted pizzicato celeste comes in to unsettle you massively. Ski-masks compulsory.

Artist Top 10

Krafty Kuts & Chali 2na

Dinked Records

1. Donny Hathaway'Live '72' Atlantic
"Brilliant LP recorded at two concerts in the USA — perfect for a long car journey, with a super cast of musicians, and incredible songs such as 'The Ghetto' and 'What’s Going On'."
2. Thundercat'Them Changes' Brainfeeder
"Sounds like something from the '70s, oozing pure funky vibes."
3. Jimi Hendrix Experience 'Purple Haze' Track Records
"Managed to slip some of the vocals of this genuine classic into the intro to our set: 'Excuse me while I kiss the sky'."
4. Cut Chemist'Work My Mind' A Stable Sound
"Big tune from his new LP 'Die Kut', that we have started performing in our new set, which sounds so massive on the soundsystems."
5. The Beat'Too Nice To Talk To' Sire Records
"Always try to find room for a tune from one of my favourite UK bands of all time, crossing genres of ska, reggae, dub, disco and 2 Tone, which we both love."
6. Shalamar'Take That To The Bank' SOLAR Records
"We are both big lovers of soul and disco, and this is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, plus I managed to squeeze this gem into my new DJ mix coming soon, entitled 'A Funky Side Of Things'."
7. RihannaKiss It Better (Pomo Remix) Westbury Road Entertainment
"Incredible remix, gives this song such a new twist, which again I managed to drop into my new mix coming out on Mixcloud very soon."
8. Toots & The Maytals54-46 Was My Number Beverleys Records
"After watching A.Skillz and Z Trip drop an amazing set in Perth, this record stuck in our minds when the guys put a flip on it, but such a dope tune and a stone wall classic."
9. The Nextmen ft. Dynamite MC'Blood Fire' Antidote
"Chali loves these guys and this tune is such a winner. It just stands the test of time and works its magic, with its irresistible rhythms and Dyna’s flow."
10. Krafty Kuts & Chali 2na 'Hands High' Dinked Records
"I know, a bit cheeky with one of our own tracks, but we couldn't not list it — it's how Chali and I got together, the track that started us on this journey that has taken us to 80 shows across the globe last year."